Preserving Vs. Restoring

Sometimes owners don’t want their treasures cleaned up or altered in any way – even though they appear to be in need. We’ve written about the loss in value that occurs when tarnished silver or pewter is polished to look like new.

And we have published articles that discussed why we use methods that can be “undone” when working with old wood furniture (thus leaving a way to “un-restore” if the need arises).

Thus, in some cases an item or collection is “preserved” by only removing contaminants and/or soot, rather than “restored.”

We do this when an owner instructs us as to the best way to maintain an article’s highest value.